Police in Spain have arrested an Irishman accused of throwing a suitcase full of cocaine out of his eighth-floor hotel window during a suspected attack of paranoia.

A receptionist alerted police after discovering the drugs scattered over an internal patio floor.

Officers arrested the 39-year-old with a second suitcase packed with cocaine outside his room after he allegedly went looking for the drugs and then asked for a duplicate key when he found himself locked out.

Police said they had recovered 55 kilos of cocaine - worth more than €3million.

The Irishman was expected to be remanded in custody today following a behind-closed-doors hearing before an investigating magistrate.

The bizarre incident happened last Friday night, just before 10pm, at the four-star Tryp Valencia Oceanic Hotel in the city of Valencia, on Spain’s east coast.

Police are said to be working on the theory that the suspected drugs trafficker, who had checked into the hotel a few hours earlier, confused noise from other guests entering and leaving their rooms with a rival gang trying to steal his drugs after suffering an attack of paranoia.

He had also removed ceiling tiles in his room - room number 801 - along with an air conditioning vent in an apparent attempt to hide his illegal stash.

A spokeswoman for Valencia’s National Police said: “I can confirm a 39-year-old Irish national was arrested after allegedly throwing a suitcase full of cocaine from his eighth-floor hotel window.

“We were alerted by a receptionist.

“The man in question was arrested outside his room after officers spotted him with a suitcase similar to the one laden with drugs which had been thrown into an internal hotel patio, and discovered it also contained cocaine.

“They found ceiling tiles had been dislodged along with an air conditioning vent and the bath had been filled with water when they entered the room.

“In all they confiscated 55 kilos of cocaine.

“The Irishman, who doesn’t have a criminal record in Spain, has been handed over to an investigating judge for further questioning.

“We are not speculating on why he might have wanted to get rid of any cocaine he had been carrying.”

A hotel receptionist said today the hotel would not be making any comment.

But an unnamed hotel employee told a local paper: “He disconnected the toilet flush and caused quite a bit of damage in his room.

“He looked like he’s suddenly gone mad after throwing the drugs out of his room.”

A source close to the case said: “He might have more than the courts on his back after all this.

“If he was working for a drugs gang, they’re not going to be happy about losing such a big supply of cocaine.”

“He’s almost certainly going to be remanded in custody with that amount of drugs.”